2025 Topsail Inshore Challenge
The 2025 Topsail Inshore Challenge, a competitive, standalone tournament that also marked the second stop in this year’s season-long Inshore Tournament Trail, was held on June 28-29. The event kicked off with registration at East Coast Sports in Surf City, followed by weigh-ins and the awards ceremony at Sloop Point Marina in Hampstead.
Red drum tournaments hosted by Fisherman’s Post offer a relaxed format—allowing teams to fish with as many anglers as they like, use natural or artificial bait, and weigh in without requiring live fish. The leaderboard is based on a team’s single heaviest red drum, but numerous TWTs (Tournament Within a Tournament) and specialty prizes add extra excitement, including awards for closest weight to specific targets, live fish bonuses, and the always-entertaining “Trash Fish” Division.
Fresh off a win at the Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge, Team Fowler continued their hot streak by taking first place at this year’s Topsail Inshore Challenge. Representing the Winston-Salem/High Point area, the team—Barry Fowler, Tim Fowler, Xavier “Zave” Broadbeck, and 13-year-old Isaac Fowler—boated just three redfish all day, but their biggest catch, a 7.35 lb. red drum landed around 9:30 a.m., was enough to secure the top spot and further solidify their standing in the Inshore Tournament Trail.
Launching around 5:30 a.m., the team headed south on the lower Cape Fear River. Their first spot, a structured area in 4-5 feet of water, produced no bites after 45 minutes. As the tide rose, they moved into the shallows.
Team Fowler, made up of Barry Fowler, Tim Fowler, Isaac Fowler, and Xavier Broadbeck, took the top spot in the 2025 Topsail Inshore Challenge. They caught their winning 7.35 lb. red drum on live bait in the lower Cape Fear River.
“We fished in a foot and a half of water,” Barry explained. “You can sometimes see them swimming in there.”
Their first hookup was lost at the boat due to the fish crossing lines, but the very next fish made it in and turned out to be the tournament winner. The team fished short Carolina rigs with 30 lb. leaders, 40 lb. braided line, and live finger mullet.
“Frisky mullet on a short leader will get them every time,” Barry said. “If your leader’s too long, you’re in the bluefish zone.”
“Fish a spot for 10 minutes—if nothing happens, move,” Barry emphasized. “Run the trolling motor 30-40 yards, fish 10 more minutes, and keep going.”
Team Fowler also took home top honors in the Single Big TWT, High Roller TWT, SeaTow Prize, and Junior Angler (Isaac Fowler) and Senior Angler (Tim Fowler) categories.
Bossy Fitzsimmons and Billy Cumbee, of Leland, NC, and fishing as Team Bossy’s Sinkers, claimed second place with a 7.33 lb. red drum. That fish also earned them second place in both the Single Big TWT and the High Roller TWT. In addition, their combined weight of 14.56 lbs., thanks to a second red drum weighing 7.23 lbs., secured them the top spot in the Two Red Drum TWT.
The team launched early and made way to a familiar spot, but after seeing a boat already anchored in the area, they made the quick decision to relocate—a move that paid off almost instantly.
“We decided to move on down to another spot,” said Fitzsimmons. “At 6:01, I had a fish on. Over the next two hours, we caught about 22 fish—all upper-slot reds. I’ve never done that before in my life.”
They fished a productive stretch between the lower Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway and used Carolina rigs with cut bait on the bottom.
Bossy Fitzsimmons and Billy Cumbee, of Leland, NC, with the two drum that brought Team Bossy’s Sinkers second place on the Topsail Inshore Challenge leaderboard and first place in the Two Red Drum TWT. They caught the red drum near Snows Cut on cut bait.
The team also took home the “Trash Fish” TWT title with a surprise 1.39 lb. oyster toadfish that was caught on the same Carolina rig setup.
When asked what made the difference, Fitzsimmons didn’t overthink it: “Luck. And fishing the cut. It was just a good day.”
Greg Cundiff and Matt Watson, fishing as Team C/W Skiff out of Southport, NC, claimed third place with a 7.16 lb. red drum landed just after 8:00 a.m. The pair also earned third place in both the Single Big TWT and the High Roller TWT.
Launching from Morningstar Marina, they reached their spot on the lower Cape Fear River by 5:40 a.m., with lines in the water right at 6:00. Their first fish, a 5.34 lb. red, came just before 7:00, followed by their biggest fish at 8:05 a.m. After that, the bite slowed, with only a few short strikes and one undersized red around 10:30.
They fished modified Carolina rigs using menhaden that Cundiff had been penning and curing for nearly two weeks.
For a more complete leaderboard, as well as information on all of the Fisherman’s Post tournaments, please visit www.FishermansPost.com.
